6,067 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Purchased by LM Advisors LLC

LM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,067 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,133,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 5,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,366 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 12,757 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after buying an additional 2,155 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 194,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,531,000 after buying an additional 5,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $223,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,216 shares of company stock valued at $12,808,372 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1 %

DRI opened at $207.37 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $193.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $210.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.